Hate to Say "I Told You So, but . . ."

Childhood Autism Now Firmly Linked to Environment

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/stephen-barrie-nd/child-autism-epidemic-fir_b_696179.html

This article ties in nicely to a previous post of mine entitled, "Less is More."  This is an easy read and touches on many of the toxins that are also likely to be a driving force in the rise of EGIDs in the United States.

"Since the '70's, there has been a 60-fold increase in American children with autism. Currently one in every 100 U.S. children and one in every 58 boys are being diagnosed with autism. That's over 2.6 percent of all male children in America. The number of autistic children expected to reach adulthood in the next 10 years along with their caregivers will exceed the population of Rhode Island and cost an estimated $27 billion in additional care beyond the almost $60 billion being spent on current autism-related costs. (1,2)" 

Another Call for More Control Over Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals

This made the New York Times Op Ed section and it is an excellent read about the lack of control over chemicals polluting our bodies and making us all sick.  A nice follow-up to my last post.  Please read it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/06/opinion/06kristof.html

Here is an exerpt from the article:

"In particular, the report warns about exposures to chemicals during pregnancy, when risk of damage seems to be greatest. Noting that 300 contaminants have been detected in umbilical cord blood of newborn babies, the study warns that: “to a disturbing extent, babies are born ‘pre-polluted.’ ”

As an aside, yesterday marked 50 years of celebrating the birth control pill.  While the birth control pill made many strides, scientists also believe that the synthetic estrogen found in birth control is a contributing factor in the rise of breast and ovarian cancer in women.  Of course, much of this was absent from our public discourse yesterday when discussing how the pill has affected us 50 years later.